The Olympic Dam mine is located 560 km north-north-west of Adelaide, and about 40 km west of the salt lake Lake Torrens in South Australia's arid interior. Most of the mine personnel live in the nearby town of Roxby Downs, 16 km south of the mine (population 4,000). Other nearby towns are Woomera, 81 km to the south, and Andamooka, 30 km to the east.
The mine is 100% owned and operated by WMC Ltd. It sits within freehold land on a Special Mining Lease that covers an area of 18,000 hectares. Of this, only about 1,320 ha or 7.3% is actively used by the mining and processing operations.
Access to the mine and to Roxby Downs is via sealed roads that connect with the Stuart Highway. The mine's products are transported to Adelaide on these roads using semi-trailers and road trains.
The land around Olympic Dam comprises parallel east-west running sand dunes with flats (swales) between. Vegetation cover is good, but not particularly dense. Most plants are native shrubs or trees, with relatively few introduced species. A number of different types of mammals (including kangaroos, marsupial mice, feral rabbits, cats and foxes) and numerous bird and reptile species inhabit the area.
Regionally, the landscape is a mix of dunes and swales, stony plains (gibber) and channel country, and salt lakes. The stony plains contain salt bush and other groundcover plants, but trees are generally absent. The channel country contains ephemeral creeks (creeks that only run after rain) and coolabahs and other trees and shrubs.
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Views of the arid, sandy landscape around Olympic Dam. |
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The land now comprising the Special Mining Lease was formerly used for pastoral purposes, and supported sheep and cattle. Their removal from the mining lease has benefited the local native vegetation.
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The Fat-Tailed Dunnart and the Trilling Frog both live in the Olympic Dam area. |
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The district around Olympic Dam and Roxby Downs experiences a typical desert climate, with hot, dry summers, and mild winters. The average daily temperature range is 20-36°C in January, and about 24-18°C in July.
Average annual rainfall is about 200 mm (compared with 455 mm at Adelaide Airport), and can fall at anytime, although the heaviest rains are usually during summer. Evaporation is approximately 2,800 mm per year.
Tables of climatic data for the area around Olympic Dam (eg; Andamooka and Woomera) are available from the Australian Bureau of Meterology.
